2010-08-31

[Wanderer] Career - Mystics

Classic Traveller's Book 2 was entitled simply Starships. This part of the core rules pervaded the rest of the setting and was instrumental in contributing to the "feel". When the Wanderer books were faked up, the artist made the second book of the trilogy hold the secrets for magic. Following the meta-pattern as much as possible, this bends our design of Wanderer to talk about magic or magical effects when Traveller speaks of starships and, well, travelling...

Low Passages in mustering out tables become one-shot magic items. Starships become Enchanted Artifacts tied to the setting. "Major races" and "minor races" are defined by their metaphysics; who codified their magics and teach them and who uses the magics taught by others.

With this concept in mind, let's talk about the Mystic career for our Wanderer.

Commission as Initiation
Mystics follow the standard character generation process, with the caveat that a successful "Commission" roll permits them to join a cabal, lodge, or covenant that is culture-specific. A commission into one cult or society provides the character with an alternate set of skill tables they can partake of, and possibly other setting-oriented consequences.

For example, initiation into the cult of Byanni Lorekeeper imparts a set of edicts the character must follow in daily life. If the character cannot fulfill these requirements, she cannot continue progression into the deeper mysteries of the religion.

The character cannot initiate into another organization at cross-purposes with their current affiliations. Being an Inviolate of Ahro, the Goddess of Life and Fertility, would preclude a character from joining the League of Blood Magi (who practice a vile metaphysic; trading lifeblood for longevity and Aura). Specifics about these relationships are left to the setting. There will be rules a little later to describe these faiths, and provide a random-generation system for them.

Commission and Promotion rolls as well as Ranks are determined by the organization that the character joins.

Characters who do not seek (or make the rolls) for commission can continue their development in the core Mystic career. Some of these characters once created their own organizations, which grew into the churches and covens within the setting. Characters who only take a single (or relatively few) terms as Mystics tend to become the hedge-wizards and quiet people of faith that fill the corners of the world.

Aura
Where the original Traveller contained rules for psionics and psychic abilities, Wanderer changes this into the more fantasy-oriented concept of Aura. Characters who take up the Mystic career awaken their Aura, and add it as an additional statistic to their character sheet. While all living things have a spirit, characters with Aura have honed their incorporeal selves into a new set of senses and hands.

Greater Aura scores indicate a person is more accomplished with magical efforts. Some organizations do not teach certain skills unless the character has a minimum Aura rating (as much for the protection of the individual as for the challenge that category of skill represents). Individual traditions will document their uses for the Aura attribute.

MYSTICS
Enlistment: 6+ (DM +1 if Int 9+, DM +2 if Edu 10+)
Survival:   3+ (DM +1 if Int 9+)
Commission: see Commission as Initiation
Promotion:  see Commission as Initiation
Re-enlist:  2+ (Yes, re-enlistment is automatic.)


  Table    Personal     Service                     Advanced
   of      Development  Skills        Education     Education Table
  Ranks    Table        Table         Table         (Edu 8+ only)
===================================================================
1          +1 Edu       Transport     Art           Healing
2          +1 Int       Armed Combat  Lore          Implement
3          +1 Aura      Navigation    J-o-A-T       Instruction
4          +1 Edu       Implement     Lore          Liaison
5          +1 Dex       Lore          +1 Edu        Lore
6          +1 Aura      Healing       +1 Aura       Leader

Rank and Service Skills
Mystic: Implement-1

Skill Eligibility
Each Term of Service: 2
Upon Commission: 1
Upon Promotion: 1

Muster-Out Benefits
Per Term of Service: 1
Rank 1 or 2: 1
Rank 3 or 4: 2
Rank 5 or 6: 3
(Benefits Table: DM +1 if rank 5+)
(Cash Table: DM +1 if Gambling 1+)

  Benefits      Cash Table
   Table        (in Shields)
============================
1 Implement           50
2 Rote               200
3 Fetish            1000
4 Implement         2000
5 Rote             10000
6 +1 Aura          50000
7 Enchantment     100000

Amounts on the Cash Table are in Shields (Sh). No more than three rolls may be made on the Cash Table.

Cascade Skills
  • Art - A specific medium or expression should be chosen. Haiku, Watercolors, Sculpting, Woodcarving, Sonnets, Weaving, etc.
  • Armed Combat - Gives the choice of any melee or missile weapon.
  • Implement - Provides a familiarity with a specific metaphysical tool; Wands, Spheres, (specific) Holy Symbol, (specific) Runes, (specific) Cards, etc.
  • Lore - Mystics are renowned for their collections of knowledge, and this cascade skill is where they pick up these facts. Animals, Nature, Theology, Peerage, Metaphysics, Demons, Geography, Alchemy.
  • Transport - This cascade skill allows the character access to the skills of Boating, Driving, Equestrian, and Seacraft.


Material Benefits
  • Implements are the tools of the Mystic's trade; holy symbols, divination tools, wands, staffs, rings, etc. Multiple implement benefits can be taken as additional levels in an implement that has already been received, or as a new implement altogether. (Yes, some implements can only be used in specific situations...)
  • Fetish benefits represent one-shot magic items, such as potions, scrolls, woad, etc.  Fetishes may be taken as often as rolled.
  • Rotes are specific formulae or hymns particular to the Mystic's tradition or specialty. They enable the character bonuses while casting specific spells and rituals. (Rotes will be documented in the Magic book.)
  • Enchantment benefit provides the character with a permanently ensorcelled item. Additional occurrences of Enchantment are treated as no benefit.

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